Double Dog Dare
by Gayle Cara Maxwell
Summary: Sometimes Josef like to goad Mick, sometimes Mick wins...


Moonlightaholics, we're depending on you to help Santa compile those lists!  
We're looking for stories on the theme of "Naughty and Nice" (or maybe just one of those... ).  
Your story must feature at least one Moonlight character, and just for holiday fun, it must include the words jingle, stocking, and frost.  
Those are the only restrictions.

After unending viewings of The Christmas Story and something on another thread inspired me to do this...

I own nothing... This is rated PG13 for alluding to the horizontal mambo in veiled terms.

**The Double Dog Dare**

Christmas had come, the holiday had gone. Josef's fascination with the bounty of the holiday never failed to amaze Mick. This keeping his Freshie staff safe and satisfied was Josef's stock and trade.

Josef had thrown a 5-day Freshie bacchanal. Pedicures, manicures, sugar-plum body scrubs, chocolate-mint massages from a staff flown in from the Hershey Spa, nothing was too good for his life-giving ladies.

The entire event had only fueled Beth's curiosity. "If the finely trained technicians had come this far west, certainly they could swing by the loft and rub the frost off my stockings?" Beth curled her finger under Mick's strong jaw to find the delightful cleft in his chin. Beth knew her index finger on his sensitive lips would provoke one of two things and either was pleasurable in her eyes. "Mick, just jingle Josef's private secretary and ask. He can't say yes if you don't ask." Since she had Mick right where wanted him at this moment she trusted he'd jingle that phone line in a couple of hours and that was good enough for Beth.

Mick had jingled the private phone line; the nimble fingered folks were going to make a December 26th visit to the loft. For all her sweet asking his simple question had earned him hours and hours of Beth's sweet gratitude. Mick was certain to also enjoy every square inch of her soft flesh that had been sugared, massaged and scented with flavors he hadn't tasted since Christmas 1951. He knew his sweet reverie with Beth would cost something, he just did not know the cost.

"Blondie enjoyed the spa day?" Josef flicked at dust mote on his blotter then leaned back in his chair. Josef's seemingly young face spread with a lascivious grin. He knew the depth and breadth of Beth's satisfaction with the Cocoa facial, the cocoa sugar scrub, the chocolate fondue body wrap and the chocolate mask for her hands and feet, complete with paraffin dip, and chocolate moisturizing massage. Mick reeked of cocoa and sex for three days.

Now, as the Waterford ball was ascending to the top of Time Square and Josef was preparing to watch these shenanigans for the umpteenth time he wanted to stir the pot.

"Mick, how about a New Year's Eve proposition?"

"Nup…." Mick had been pacing the room in a slow, lazy circle. With no pending case and sunrise 5 hours away it seemed like Mick had a touch of ADD.

"Hasn't anyone double-dog dared you to do anything? Weren't you a child of the early 20th century?" Josef arched in the chair, causing an evil creak.

Mick's hazel eyes twinkled, "Are you kidding? Of course they did, Thelma Bronson had a balcony you could Shakespeare on and this friend of mine-"

Josef sprung from the chair "There you go reminiscences of those years of living dangerously." Suddenly Josef's arm landed across Mick's shoulder, his words cool into Mick's ear. Mick's head spun to regard Josef's near slits, with curious curl to his lips as Josef asked, "Never did anything as stupid as stick your tongue to a flagpole?"

"Stick my tongue to a flagpole? HAH, that's right out of that movie your Freshies have been watching all weekend." Mick's brows knit, he ran a protective thumb over his lips, just the thought of all the pure pleasure his tongue experienced with those refined vampire senses made him twinge.

"So you think it works the same way on a freezer wall?" Josef seemed to yank Mick closer.

Mick wrenched himself from Josef's grasp and headed for the bar, "Why wouldn't it?"

Josef moved in vamp speed to the other side of the bar, clamping a hand down on the single malt. "OK, Mr. Gumshoe extraordinaire, prove it."

Mick levered the bottle from under Josef's insistent grasp, "That's absurd 'cause you know it'll stick!"

"That's exactly what Flick and Schwartz said, to be exact it was, "That's 'cause you know it'll stick! That Flick kid says 'You're full of it!' and then that Schwartz shoots back with 'Oh yeah?' A bit like you, Mick." Mick grimaced at the extreme pleasure Josef exhibited in acting out the two juvenile voices. Josef grasped the neck of the bottle unrelenting, "So Flick counters 'Yeah!' and then Schwartz throws down the coup de grace, 'Well I double-DOG-dare ya! You're full of it! Prove it Mister."

Mick's hand flew to a different bottle, the Jameson's, "You need a broader range of film experiences Josef." Poured a glass, spiked it with A+ and turned to find a seat.

Pit bull Kostan chased him down, "Oh yeah?" Nose to nose Josef had hemmed Mick to the chair.

Mick bid his time, drew in a full mouthful of blood-tinged liquor and savored it. He allowed Josef thinking time as he rolled the flavor of the burn along every taste bud on his tongue, the liquor settled along his gums and the blood caused him to ache for Beth. When Mick was about to bust out into a guffaw he swallowed and bellowed, "Yeah! …. Well I double-DOG-dare ya!"

And as in the ubiquitous yet unmentioned film, NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a "triple dare you"?

As if blown back by the force of Mick's words Josef swore back, "I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!"

"Why don't you find a flagpole and toss down a couple c-notes to see which one of your girls will rise to the dare. Then if they're lucky you can kiss it and make it better."

"Really?" Retreating now Josef threw a cavalier look over his shoulder, "And in the flower of their youth I should recklessly suggest they damage their mortal taste buds, really, Mick, really?"

Mick tossed back the remains of the glass and posed, fists on his hips, "Then you do it."

"You do it…." Josef was back at him nose to nose, rising on the balls of his loafers to meet Mick's height.

Mick turned on his heel and placing the crystal glass on the butlers tray Mick wagged his brow, "I think I'm going to meander home by way of Beth's French doors, she likes when I do that vampire jumpy thing, you know?"

Josef flew to the broad mahogany doors and posed with his elbow against the frame, "You'll never know unless you…."

"Watch you make an ass out of yourself." Mick stepped around Josef and dug for his key ring.

_MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML MLMLML_

Just as Mick threw the gear shift into park his phone vibrated. 5:12 a.m. was too early for a client he withdrew the phone and looked at the text.

"Melody answered my page. Brought warm blood. Yes, Virginia, a tongue does stick to the freezer wall."

Mick shook his head; there was Josef mixing his theatrical and literature themes. Good thing he had put a grand on that with Melody before he left the mansion.


End file.
